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After offering the morning namaaz, 22-year-old Asifa Rizvi, an IT professional, goes back to her room and grabs a dog-eared copy of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Like Elizabeth Bennett, the protagonist of the book, Asifa too is coming of age. Thanks to the book, Asifa has found a liberating voice in a conservative milieu, especially when she is being constantly told at home to get married and settle down. Asifa is one of the Austenians across the world who has found comfort in Austen’s works. Such is the kind of impact of Jane Austen’s oeuvre that there are dedicated societies in her name across the world, more so, outside England, her birthplace. Take the Jane Austen Society of Japan for example, which is all set to organise its 12th annual convention in Tokyo this year or the Jane Austen Society of Pakistan, founded by author Laaleen Sukhera, which is pushing boundaries in a conservative country.
Closer home, Jane Austen is increasingly becoming the topic of weekly reading sessions and book clubs dedicated to her are bringing about a silent revolution. Ayush Jain, founder of the Pune Book Lovers, explains why Jane Austen is still relevant today. “It is a special feeling to get to read stories from those times. Though Jane Austen’s books are almost two centuries old, the story, humour, human emotions and essence of the stories is relevant event today. That’s why she is popular with the young generation as well. Her books have the ability to strike a chord with readers as the plots are relatable and allow one to escape from what they are dealing with in life.”
Asifa agrees and shares, “I was never inclined to read the classics until I joined the Jane Austen book club in the city. Discovering Pride and Prejudice has given me a sense of comfort and a voice of reason. I relate to the story of Elizabeth Bennett and like her, I wish to marry a partner that I choose and love; like Mr Darcy.”

Fictional characters, real impact!

Be it the rebellious Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice or coming of age Dashwood sisters for Sense and Sensibility, Austen’s characters are igniting a revolution among youngsters. Juhi Gupte, another member of the club, shares that the club has members from the age group of 18 to 66 and they read and discuss the classics. “We meet twice a month and discuss for hours in leisure about the characters and how they have had an impact on us individually,” says Juhi, adding, “This ignites interest among young readers. We take the fictional characters and try and relate our personal situations to theirs. This exercise takes us through a journey. In fact, I have gone through it as well. When I was in high school, I went through a phase of depression and Austen’s novels became a refuge for me. They offered me solace and helped me come out of it. I am seeing a similar transformation happening among readers from our group.”
While reading Pride and Prejudice, Asifa realised that a woman cannot be defined by who she marries. “We have a say in things too. We may have grown up in conservative or liberal families, but we always have to prove ourselves by going the extra mile. Pride and Prejudice gave me the courage to tell my parents straight up that I will marry the man I love. Although it took time for them to come around with the idea, my stand on the subject created quite a controversy among our relatives,” quips Asifa, who thanks Austen for introducing her to the inner rebellion and feminist in her.

Who can join?The simple answer is anyone! The meet ups are free of charge as well. Ruchita Mathur from the club says, “We have seen a great interest for Austen’s novels and other classics among youngsters. The last meeting saw about seven new people joining the session.”

Let’s start talkingYou must have read a signboard at some eateries saying ‘We don’t have Wi-Fi. Talk to each other’. The idea of starting a real conversation is also what forms the motive of the Jane Austen reading club. Preeti Raj, an avid book reader, asks, “When was the last time we switched off our phones and had a real conversation with someone?” Preeti feels that Austen is helping break this wall we’ve created. “We are either busy scrolling through social media posts or chatting. In between all the digital chaos, we are losing touch with real communication. In these book club meetings, rather than reading books in isolation, we engage in communication. We want to tell and listen to stories. We discuss Austen’s powerful heroines, the social psychology of her books and how these characters had feminist undertones. These conversations open our minds. It allows us to look deeper into things and form a rational opinion. That’s what we are trying to achieve here,” she says.

Like India, Pakistan’s answer to the Jane Austen book club is the Jane Austen Society of Pakistan, which started a different movement in the country. Laaleen Sukhera, founder of the group, says, “We started from a Facebook group which then led to our first meet-up in the form of a small Regency inspired afternoon tea. It took off in Islamabad, where I lived at the time, and has grown into a beautiful experience over time. The buzz has helped dispel some of the dismal stereotypes that people overseas have come to associate with Pakistani women, especially in terms of appearance, behaviour and thoughts. Our members come from different professional fields, including journalism, academia, law and international development and politics. There are women who are married or are single, there are married mothers and single mothers. We’re drawn together through our inclination for reading books and seeing life through this sensitised prism with plenty of camaraderie.” Laleen adds that the beauty of Austen is that her work resonates with everyone irrespective of age, profession or phases of life. “Her characters and the situations they find themselves in are relevant, particularly in South Asia where society tends to veer towards maddening hypocrisy, patriarchal traditions and decadent social etiquette, eerily similar to that of England two centuries ago,” she says. The club discusses topics relating to books and society and tries to personally relate to the themes, characters and settings. You’ll find that Janeites around the world share inside jokes and a similar wavelength, no matter where they are from.

Laaleen Sukhera further adds, "I’ve been reading Austen since childhood so re-reading her novels and re-watching their screen adaptations are a source of comfort and delight. Beyond the balls and the bonnets and the barouches, there’s astute social commentary and heaps of humour. Her heroines go through trying times and often have their hearts bruised but are never very melodramatic about it. They’re just so endearing and so relatable and so very amusing. Even the cads have charm. Austen’s one liners and biting wit are unparalleled. For me, personally, running this society has been a very welcome distraction.

The creation of Austenistan

On the creation of Austenistan, Laaleen says, "The society led to the creation of Austenistan, a collection of Jane Austen Society of Pakistan (JASP)’s stories are inspired by aspects of her novels and set in contemporary Pakistan. Curating, editing, and co-writing this anthology has been a labour of love that has carried me through a very difficult separation and custody battle. The book has empowered me, Jane Austen has empowered me, and our group of JASP writers has grown so close in the process. We’ve learned so much from each other and we continue to grow.

We’ve seen that Jane Austen transcends time and ethnicity and geographic location. Whether it’s the novels themselves or role-playing apps or memes or improv comedy or graphic comics or fan fiction or Cosplay, there’s a great deal of enjoyment to be derived from Austen among the vast industry inspired by her work. Austenistan is our homage to our favourite author which simultaneously represents our underrepresented neck of the woods in global pop culture. Many of Austenistan’s readers are teenaged university students here and abroad who have reached out to us saying how much they’ve enjoyed our stories and how fascinated they were by our depictions. Many have also said the book makes them want to go out and buy the actual classics they were inspired by, which has been really heartening. A lot of readers have told us they aren’t traditional ‘book readers’ and prefer to browse magazines, yet they read and enjoyed our stories and demanded more. The book has been selected by podcasts and book clubs from the United States to the United Arab Emirates and is categorised by bookshops in multiple fiction genres including contemporary, romance, humour, and feminist."

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